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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25236469">Back Door</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/gray_eyes/pseuds/gray_eyes'>gray_eyes</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Subway Series [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, Gen, Introspection, POV Third Person</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 03:35:20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>785</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25236469</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/gray_eyes/pseuds/gray_eyes</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Max has a new favorite sibling.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alec Lightwood &amp; Max Lightwood, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Subway Series [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1363069</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>218</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Fluff vs. Angst Battle 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Back Door</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This story can be read as a standalone. It takes place twenty years after Sliding Doors and ten years after Opening Doors.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The real heroes are the ones who are always there, right in front of you.</p>
<p>Max fantasized about his fair share of heroes. He knew from the manga he read, and now sold, that his life was the fantasy world that mundanes only imagined. He lived in a world of magic and superhuman ability. As a kid, he was swept up in the might of those abilities. He never attuned to the life of a soldier, no matter how he much he tried, but he idolized what he saw as the embodiment of one. The fastest. The strongest. The bravest. Shining like the purest gold.</p>
<p>Jace.</p>
<p>Jace, whose smile widened at the sight of him. Jace, who ruffled his hair like a kid but showed him complex moves like one of the guys. Jace, who his parents doted on. Jace, who gifted him a toy soldier that would become his most cherished possession.</p>
<p>Max wasn’t a kid anymore.</p>
<p>He loves Jace. He’d always love Jace. He was family. Max just hadn’t realized who was always there, parenting him all along. Who supported him when he was acting out with his tutor and lighting things up on fire. Who protected him from his parents’ arguing and political machinations. Who advocated for Nephilim to opt out of the Shadowhunter vocation, should they wish. Who invested in his dream to open a comics store. Who gifted Max his journals as his first project to illustrate. Who infused those graphic novels with magic, bringing Max’s creations to life.</p>
<p>Jace wasn’t the one who taught Max what love is. Alec was.</p>
<p>Alec always supported Max. Jace supported him too, as did Izzy, but Alec <em>listened</em>. Alec knew what Max wanted, what he needed, because he was there. Max could rely on Alec. It was as simple as that.</p>
<p>And now, the journals that Alec first started over two decades ago, the journals that narrated Alec’s discovery of himself and his first foray into sleuthing, they were on the shelves for the world to see. Sure, mundane readers didn’t see the lines swirling in and out of their boxes, nor did they understand the meaning of the runes all over the characters’ features. Still, they’d enjoy it, because who couldn’t fall in love with Alec? Who couldn’t root for him?</p>
<p>“How are the day’s sales?” A familiar voice interrupts his musings. Max turns to find his honorary father staring back at him. He’s in one of his signature t-shirts with ripped jeans and silver boots. He still looks just the same. Max looks older than him now, although they rarely talk about it.</p>
<p>“Not bad,” Max smirks. “The rune shirts are selling fast.”</p>
<p>Alec huffs. With his glamour ability and Magnus’ fashion sense, the Lightwood-Banes had been making a sizable income selling Alec’s clothing and jewelry creations. Whether they kept that money, Max didn’t know – Alec had a habit of donating all of his funds away. When Max suggested he make some sort of merchandise to accompany the book sales, Alec hadn’t expected something so...simplistic. Max insisted that they capitalize on t-shirts with deflect runes, much to Alec’s horror.</p>
<p>“Are you sure I can’t convince you to produce more?” Alec frowns. Max laughs. “Or maybe something with a bow and arrow.”</p>
<p>A lot had changed. Alec had his own family now. He taught the next generation and was lauded by all the Shadow World. He was practically royalty.</p>
<p>Still, some things always stayed the same. Even though Alec rarely used his bow for actual hunts, he still loved it. Max would sometimes watch Alec grooming his arrows and restringing his bow. For someone who had the world at his fingertips, he knew how to slow down and savor each moment. So many new Shadowhunters learned the bow now, eager to get advice from the great Alexander Lightwood-Bane.</p>
<p>“Maybe, although don’t you think that’s a little violent for a mundane audience?” Alec’s thumb lazily swipes the spines of the bookcase. Max laughs. Alec was such a <em>dad</em> sometimes.</p>
<p>“Sure, <em>Dad</em>,” Max quips. “Only rainbows and unicorns, scout’s honor.”</p>
<p>Their eyes veer to the shop’s entrance. A small rainbow sticker is pasted on the glass. “All are welcome here” is written in block print below it.</p>
<p>Alec looks around, seeing the shop empty, and flicks his fingers. His silver t-shirt transforms into a rainbow flag, its stripes moving against an imaginary wind.</p>
<p>“Nothing wrong with a rainbow,” Alec quips.</p>
<p>Alec was always a protective big brother, but Max never got to see this as a kid. He relishes every day he gets to see it now, for however long he has.</p>
<p>Max smiles again, softer. “No,” he says. “Nothing wrong at all.”</p>
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